Yearly Archives: 2013

Movie Trailers

Jack Ryan Trailer Looks Better Than Expected

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Diving back into the franchise started by the incredible author Tom Clancy, who sadly passed away last week, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit hopes to restart his franchise on the big screen. Directing is Kenneth Branagh (Henry V, Thor) whom also stars as the main antagonist opposite Chris Pine (Star Trek), who takes the titular role in this one, stepping into shoes previously filled by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, and even Batman himself, Ben Affleck.

Joining him is Kevin Costner, who interestingly has signed a two-picture deal to reprise the same role in another Tom Clancy Series that Paramount is trying to kickstart, Without Remorse. Other notable faces are Keira Knightley (Pirates of the Caribbean) and David Paymer (Mr. Saturday Night).

Initially written by newcomer Adam Cozad, David Koepp (Spiderman) was called in to do rewrites, and the film is only based on Clancy’s characters, not a specific book.

The plot for this one centers around a CIA analyst, Jack Ryan, who discovers a Russian plot to destroy the US economy. It sounds somewhat generic, but nobodies pegging this to be a complex character study, instead just deliver on its promise as an action spy flick that entertains. By the looks of the well-cut trailer, it seems to succeed:

Going in I had zero expectations for this because it seemed like another throw away action movie, kind of what the Die Hard series has become, but damn is this trailer put together nicely. Between the music, and the practical action scenes, this looks to be one hell of a good time at the theater.

As I said, this one isn’t going for Oscar’s, but likely be more in the vein of Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol ,  it looks to simply be a fun movie with some cool action set-pieces. Also, the playback between Pine and Costner is a nice touch, and Branagh as the stoic russian villain could surely add to the entertainment.

The first official poster was also released:

Jack Ryan Shadow Recruit Poster

The film is due out Christmas Day against a packed line-up of new releases including Keanu Reeve’s 47 Ronin, Ben Stiller’s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, the expansion to wide release of the new David O’ Russle film, American Hustle, and the De Niro vs. Stallone boxing movie, Grudge Match. 

GAMING

City of Titans: Kickstarter Goes Live!

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When most people think of MMO’s they think of either the dark reaches of space or some fantasy inspired landscape. NCSoft had a different vision back in 2004 when they released a game called City of Heroes. With this MMO you could create the hero you wanted and go out and battle the forces of crime. To the fans dismay however the game was shut down in 2012 as they looked elsewhere to fight evil. Missing Worlds Media have heard the cries of the fans and have launched a new project on Kickstarter entitled City of Titans.

This ambitious new MMO will allow players to create a hero or villain to step out onto the streets. As with other MMO’s there is going to be a deep customization system when it comes to choosing powers and appearance. However, you can also customize your powers as well (example: you can arc lightning from a wand, your hands or even a fantastic looking gun.) But that’s not all as there are going to be tools available for the players to make their own stories. Then you can take these stories and share them with other players in the game. When you purchase City of Titans you will be buying the game and be given 3 months of a VIP subscription. After those 3 months are done you can still play for free and there will be a cash shop in-game as well.

So how has the response been to this project? As of the writing of this article this Kickstarter has 29 days still to go…and has raised over $260,000.

They want to raise $320,000 to cover the costs of the project and right now they may reach their goal in just a few days. And some of the rewards you can get for pledging range from a simple thank you to a digital copy of the game to designing a costume to your specs and joining Missing Worlds at the debut party during  ‘a major convention’.

City of Titans

Movie News & Opinions

Godzilla Teaser Leaked! UPDATED

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A teaser for the upcoming Godzilla remake from Legendary Pictures, potentially set for release in 2014, has just leaked to the internet. As of the time this is being written it’s still visible, however it’ll most certainly be taken down within the next 24 hours. Make sure you get a look at the footage now, you might actually not want to let this pass you by.

http://www.movieweb.com/v/VIpyxA0lqZq7sw/embed_video

It actually looks very good. I did not think I’d be interested in a Godzilla movie anymore with so many other action movies taking up the mantle of large-scale destruction. Creature movies like Pacific Rim and obviously Cloverfield have done a much better job of recreating the thrill of a Godzilla film than the last few Godzillas, so when the admittedly awesome-looking poster went public months ago I didn’t bite. This though? This has my attention. Most exciting for me is the brief look at what appears to be another monster that’s already come out on the losing end of a battle. If the upcoming movie brings back Godzilla fighting other monsters, this could be something truly awesome.

Unfortunately, in keeping with the teaser principle, we don’t actually see much of Godzilla himself or get a clear look at the CGI work, but we can guess that there is a very hard focus on realism for the film. The destruction looks more on par with a terrorist bombing than it does a dragon-monster on a cartoonish rampage, and based on the number of bodies strewn about the derailed train in the establishing shot, this movie is not shying away from the very real threat Godzilla presents to the city. I want nothing more than a mature Godzilla film, showing real casualties, that captures the actual shock and horror that would come from such an enormous monster attacking a cityspace. I also wonder if this Godzilla will behave  more like a wild animal or have more of a conscious awareness of his destruction.

This leak has me pretty floored, frankly. I’m extremely excited to see more about this in the future.

GAMING

Call of Duty: Ghosts – Squads Game Mode Revealed

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Evolution in an iterative game franchise is obviously slow-going; it’s difficult to try new things when your games are released annually. The Call of Duty series has often been criticized for being the same repackaged game year after year, but a new console generation opens the door for innovation and the upcoming Call of Duty: Ghosts seems to be one of the largest steps forward for the franchise since Modern Warfare took the world by storm so many years ago.

In addition to hiring writer Stephen Gaghan (Traffic, Syriana) in a concerted effort to improve on the single player aspect, Ghosts seems focused on driving multiplayer further by introducing a slew of new refinements to expand on their current MP experience, including sliding, peeking around corners, and dynamic maps. Now, Infinity Ward has revealed a whole new game mode to multiplayer called Squads, which offers a whole new facet to the multiplayer platform.

Squads introduces a whole new level of competition to Call of Duty: Ghosts. Combining the unrivaled Multiplayer experience with cutting edge AI, Squads lets you play a variety of new game modes with your customized squad-mates. Play solo against another player and their squad, or cooperatively with friends, competing versus an AI-controlled squad. Best of all, the XP earned in Squads is directly connected to your Multiplayer progress!

In Squads, players create a number of different units, each with their own loadouts and customizable features, and drop into several different game types which test your ability to create a balanced, skilled team. There are a number of game types within Squads that allow players to play alone against AI or with friends, either co-operatively or against one another. Your squads will also remain active and gain XP even while you’re offline, which means multiplayer in Ghosts will have a level of persistence – Yes, Call of Duty is becoming even more addictive.

Squads looks like an interesting combination of traditional competitive multiplayer and online co-op along the lines of the Spec Ops game mode in previous CoD titles. If it works well, players will lose even more hours to the black hole that is Call of Duty multiplayer, and it’s a unique way for the series to differentiate itself from Battlefield, which continues to push open environments and vehicular combat as its foundation.

THE INTERWEBS

Wonder Woman Lets Loose In This New Fan Film

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You have to feel sorry for Wonder Woman. Aside from a great TV run in the ’70s, she really has struggled to make it back onto the screen. Films pitches have resulted in zero success, and TV pilots have come and gone without so much as a whimper.

So, we turn to the fans to make Wonder Woman come to life, and thus far we’ve been pleasantly surprised at how much better they are than the big budget attempts. This must be because of the heart and soul that goes into these projects. In August we talked about First Impressions, which had to be the most emasculating first date ever.

Now we’ve got another interpretation of the character, starring Team Unicorn’s Rileah Vanderbilt as the Princess herself. With an obvious passion for the product,  just read what director Sam Balcomb has to say about this new release.

[quote] Firstly, thanks for watching. Whether you like, or dislike, our live action interpretation of Diana of Themyscira, Wonder Woman, born of clay, I think (quite a few of) you will agree she is a character just as vital and crucial to our understanding of humanity as any other superhero… if not more so.

We spent the majority of 2013 working on this — the look, the feel, the aspects we most wanted to portray. It’s a scant two and half minutes, but in the end, it’s one hundred and fifty seconds of pure fantasy, where I get to consider the two sides of my favorite warrior: a crusader in man’s world, and a paragon of virtue told through Greek mythology.

It’s a fun world to hang out in. I hope you enjoy it. [/quote]

Here is the finished product and it looks incredible

Wonder Woman certainly looks the part; in fact I don’t think she has ever looked better. They managed to make a suit that conforms to the comic book ideals of the character, looks practical and also showcases her sexuality all in one go. The narrative is fantastical, constructed jumping from Paradise Island with her fellow Amazons, then straight to the down and dirty streets where some thugs get their just deserts. It shows how Wonder Woman (like Superman) is a child of two lands. It is also great to watch her kick some serious backside.

The effects are great, and the CGI Minotaur monsters look particularly stunning. In fact the only downside to this is that it’s so short it leaves you craving more of this Wonder Woman. Hopefully the group responsible for this short will give us more exploits of the Amazonian Princess very soon.

[box_dark]Starring: Rileah Vanderbilt, Clare Grant, Alicia Marie, America Young, Kimi Hughes, Christy Hauptman
Director of Photography: Andrew Finch
Key Grip: Duy Nguyen
1st AC: Nick Roney
Gaffer: Ryan Walton
Stunt Coordinator: Surawit Sae Kang
Stunt Team: Surawit Sae Kang, Joe Perez, Billy Bussey, Jason Brillantes, Kerry Wong
Costume Designer: Heather Greene
Costumer: Sarah Skinner
Consultant: GoldenLasso.net
Hair & Makeup: Anissa Salazar Assistant: Yulitzin Alvarez
Music & Sound Design: Jeff Dodson Vocalist: Raya Yarbrough Sound Mastered at: Runsilent
Editor: Jesse Soff
Visual Effects Supervisor: Sam Balcomb
Compositors: Jason Schaefer & Nick Viola
Producer: Jesse Soff
Directed by: Sam Balcomb [/box_dark]

Wonder Woman

Also be sure to read Unknown Fan Films for even more information on rare and up coming features like this.